Motaquote Welsh League Division One
17/04/04: Grange Harlequins 2 - 0 Ton Pentre

GRANGE HARLEQUINS moved to within one point of Ton Pentre in second place as they won by two clear goals.

It was Ton who created the best chances early on at Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff when good play up the right wing saw Mike Jones pass forward into Kerry Harding's stride. He was fouled and Adrian Tucker plucked the ball from the resulting free kick out of the air. However, when he sent the ball out it fell straight to Alyn Jones who executed a sweet cross into the area. Carl Thomas was unlucky to see his header go over the cross bar.

Minutes later and Quins were hanging on again. When a corner kick was swung into the box Tucker missed it and the ball went to the far post. Jason Roberts failed to get a foot behind the ball as it bounced awkwardly up at the Ton defender.

During the 21st minute Carl Thomas should have put the Rhondda Bulldogs into the lead when Alyn Jones set him free on the goalkeeper after a wonderful shimmy took him around his challenger. Thomas hit straight into Tucker's arms and looked frustrated with his effort.

With eight minutes of the first half remaining Grange Quins took the lead. As a Quins forward ran into the box Tom Billings dispossessed him of the ball with a good sliding tackle. The referee kept his arms at his side that appeared to signal that he felt it was a good challenge but the referee's assistant started waving his flag.

After a discussion with his assistant the referee awarded Quins a free kick on the edge of the box much to Ton Pentre's dismay. The home side scored from the free kick and Alyn Jones was booked after continuing his protest to the referee's assistant.

Ton Pentre were disjointed in the second half and never really looked like getting a goal back. Quins replaced Adam Lewis for Stuart Vahid ten minutes into the half and it proved useful.

The player got himself immediately into the match when he got a fantastic cross into the Ton box where Marty Ellacott was forced into producing a special save to deny the connecting shot at point blank range.

Ton were punished in the 65th minute when they conceded a free kick a few yards outside the box. Kurt Nogan scored with his head to give his side a 2-0 lead.

The same player nearly scored again a minute later but Ellacott pulled off another fine save to deny the former professional.

Ton created little in front of goal during the second period with Alyn Jones having the best chance of the half. After Andrew Hughes had won the ball he directed it out to right into Jones's feet. He ran into the box at an angle and saw his shot curl wide of the far post.

Grange Quins who still have hopes of promotion in their sights, despite Llanelli's dominance, will hope for a similar result when they meet Ton for a second time in a few days at Ynys Park on Wednesday April 21 at 7.30pm.

Ton Pentre's one remaining fixture after this will see them travel to UWIC Inter Cardiff for the 2003-04 season finale on Saturday April 24 that kicks off at 3pm.

Ton Pentre: Marty Ellacott; Kerry Harding (Kristian Orchard, 80mins) ; Ian Shepherd; Mike Jones; Jason Roberts; Andrew Hughes; Alyn Jones; Shaun Fackerel; Carl Thomas; Raith Plant (Lee Tapper, 63mins); Tom Billings. Substitute not used: Nathan Prygodzicz.

Match Report by Robert Dowling.